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A seventeenth-century Italian flat with restored original terrazzo floors. A lush and airy Bahamian cottage tricked out by a renowned interiors visionary. An inn on Fogo Island in Newfoundland with sleek, modern architecture and a commitment to social good. Serious fodder for escapist daydreams, yes, but the real tie here is Meghan McEwen, who writes about these properties and more for Designtripper.

Upping the promise of the best design and travel blogs and nullifying long, often frustrating searches on sites like Airbnb and VRBO (and maybe equally frustrating discussions that begin with “Where should we go this year?”), McEwen’s small team of contributors explore the history, aesthetic and allure of privately owned vacation rentals all over the planet. If you’re the sort of traveler who places equal weight on journey and destination, and if majestic stone hearths in cliff-built five-story cribs seem like reason enough to cash in some frequent-flier miles, chances are good that Designtripper’s digs-centric globetrotting will appeal to you.

And, yeah, if you’re just into virtual escapism, they’ve got you on that too.

The minimal, efficiently organized interface includes filters for location, rental type (homes vs. hotels and inns), food-centric destinations, family-friendly havens and even socially conscious travel. Have a good trip.

This time around, it’s a travelogue/lookbook in cahoots with Australian brand Zanerobe (progenitors of some of the best jogger pants in the biz, along with next-level shirts, shorts, jackets and more). The photographic essay, titled On the Road, took them out of their standard stomping ground of New York, and up the West Coast—hitting Los Angeles, Portland and our hometown of Seattle along the way.

Keep reading to see the results, and to shop selected items from Zanerobe’s ‘ZNRB’ fall collection.

Fashion Week is a myth. Well, maybe more like a misnomer. While the seasonal proceedings in each global metropolis (New York, London, Milan, Paris) last approximately seven days, the cumulative tour spans more like a month.

Which is to say that Nordstrom’s traveling trend spotter, Crystal Nicodemus, is practically a decathlete. Amidst days on end spent fighting jet lag and jogging between the venues of every major women’s runway show, she still scores shot after killer shot of the world’s best dressed.

Keep reading for additional highlights from Crystal’s social anthropology of the female of the species in London and Milan (as observed on our sister blog, The Thread)—blue-haired mermaids, stiletto-clad cyclists and all.

Summer is nearly done for (a fact that GQ, Starbucks and our own Fall Essentials guide make it hard to remain in denial about)—which is all the more reason to soak up the last few days of sun. Or better yet, make a plan to visit tropical climes once winter really hits.

Keep reading to get a head start on packing for two potential trips: a Mexican getaway and a Mediterranean cruise.

Whereas our first installment of “Sneakers in Your City” followed two hip-hop artists to their favorite spots in Seattle, episode 2 takes us to New York, where Ryan Plett—the photographer, consultant, and self-described “generalist” behind popular mood board blog You Have Broken the Internet—showed us the Big Apple through his own unique lens.

He also shot some damn fine looking photographs for us. Keep reading to watch a behind-the-scenes video, hear about five places to seek out in NYC, and get a closer look at fall footwear from The Sneaker Project, a curated selection handpicked by our buyers.

After salivating over the sun, fun and fried dough infiltrating our Instagram feed during a colleague’s recent trip to Los Angeles, we had to ask him for some insights on traveling to Southern Cali in style. “I hadn’t been to L.A. before as an adult,” says Donovan Nguyen, a web designer at Nordstrom HQ. “There’s a huge difference between seeing a city with your parents at age 8 and seeing it now as a grown-up. It’s so much better.”

Keep reading for highlights from Donovan’s visually arresting L.A. photo journal, complete with tips on where to go and what to pack.

Cool scenery and killer clothes. While approximately one zillion other ingredients (such as blood, sweat, tears, timing, talent) are required to plan and execute a successful photo shoot—those first two certainly make for a solid start.

Keep reading to see what we saw—from sticker-slathered sign posts to your new favorite denim jacket—while running around Manhattan yesterday during a 10-hour shoot.

One of them is a multilingual Fashion Week veteran who’s lived in Portugal, Belgium and Spain. The other is a first-timer whose hobbies include motorcycles, IPA and minimalist sneakers. They both work here at Nordstrom HQ—and they both had a hell of a time in Europe last month for Fashion Week.

From slingshots to sporks to a solar-powered phone charger, our latest Pop-In Shop, LET’S GO! (which shuts its doors this Sunday), has everything you need for an epic American road trip—including expertly curated tunes to fuel long hours in your #adventuremobile between points A and B.

Keep reading for classic soundtracks, from Sabbath to the Stones, for a REAL road trip—one that spans 10 full albums, at least—courtesy of Matt Jencik at Reckless Records, a London legend for 30 years that now operates three record shops in Chicago.

Best Made Co is physically based in the big city of Manhattan—but the five-year-old company’s ethos is keenly focused on wide-open spaces with nary a skyscraper in sight.

Originating with a simple proposition to build a better axe (a lifeline in the wilderness as well as an inspirational symbol for city-dwellers), Best Made quickly expanded its offering to include form-meets-function items from first-aid kits to fireside coffee cups.

They frequently field-test said products in picturesque, enviably uninhabited locales—and collect incredible visual documentation while they’re at it. Keep reading to see excerpts from four of our favorite Best Made photo essays from all corners of the great United States (a perfect way to wrap up our LET’S GO Pop-In Shop, which comes to an end this Sunday).